Recently my Game of Thrones project was removed for an IP violation rightfully so. To avoid another copyright strike, I have decided to go through all my maps and change all of the logos etc anything from the show that can possibly get restricted.
However, I have some questions regarding the extent of content they’re willing to strike.
Q1) My maps are all custom, using descriptions from the books instead of the show’s locations. Will this let me avoid a strike?
Q2) In-game, my players can create a character- allowing them to change their name to Jon, Aegon, Aerys etc (character forenames from the show/books), are these names also copyrighted or am I allowed to let this happen as long as the character’s surnames aren’t Snow, Targaryen, Stark (character surnames from the show/books) etc.
I do not request legal advice, I just want to know if anyone has experience with this stuff and know if it will get them warned.
Well you if the players decide the name themselves and you arent giving them certain options then for Q2 you should be good, especially with Jon considering thats a real name so they cant really copyright it.
Anything that could be distinguished as a part of the copyrighted content could be considered a DMCA violation. I got a place shut down for having the name ‘Formula One’ in the title. Nothing in the game would have been subject to a DMCA violation by them. Strangely enough there are thousands of Places and Models with that exact same name in them…
I’d be careful with names like Game Of Thrones, or distinguishable things like very recognizable character names.
Anything you build yourself is unlikely to be a DMCA violation. However if you got an item that was directly from one of their products (say stealing a Mesh from a videogame they’ve made) then that could get you shut down.
I would check the Game of Thrones website or their publisher/creator/whatever’s site for information. You can also contact their legal team who would probably give you all the information you need.
Would I still have to worry despite the names not being apart of the code? All the data for the game (forenames, surnames etc) is stored offsite. If ROBLOX were to review the game, they wouldn’t find anything that relates to GOT.
Another note, everything I have made for my game is completely mine. I have not ripped any assets from any HBO owned game / GOT game, and I have constructed every building location in Blender and uploaded them myself.
Surely if I keep GOT out of the title, description and picture it shouldn’t even be brought up for moderation right?
I have emailed their legal team but I don’t expect to get a response for quite a while, so I guess I can send an email and just risk it for now (should be fine anyway).